The day of the show.
I was up and pack by 6.30am for the drive to the show. Left home at 7.00am and arrived at 7.08am. Hung around till 7.30 when the show organisers turned up. (Must read invite).
The show venue is great. Plenty of free parking and all on the level. In fact as I was one of the first to arrive I was allowed to drive into the venue and park next to the table to help unloading. The other great benefit is that they also have access to a professionally run café. So once I had set up and then the others turned up, we went for breakfast.
Traders
There were a very good selection of traders.
One in particular that convinced me to part with some money was Charlie Foxtrot Models http://www.charliefoxtrotmodels.com/
Having sold my Grand Manner builds of Cartentan to fund the War of The Roses collection I was either in the market place for some alternatives that were hopefully cheaper, lighter to carry and less fragile or sell my WW2 28mm collection including my Dad’s Army troops.
Well Charlie Foxtrot models offered me the solution. A vast selection of models are already available and having had a discussion with the owner regarding future releases, he confirmed plans for at least a School, funeral parlour and many more ideas. Please check out their website. http://www.charliefoxtrotmodels.com/ it is really good and offers tutorials on assembly etc.
The Game
The game was based around the forces involved at Bosworth.
The boys from Plymouth, Brian and Laurie turned up and along with Nathan they selected the forces they were to command. Nathan taking the Yorkist force while Brian and Laurie commander the Tudor force. I have to admit that it was at this time we decided that the Stanley forces of Sir William and Thomas would be for show. They can be seen below skirting the edge of the far river bank.
Both side started to advance towards each other and the first to engage were Oxford’s mounted knights against Surrey’s knights. This melee ebbed and flowed for a while until Surrey reinforced the melee. This opened up the Tudor left flank and forced Oxford on to the defensive. Surrey’s troops continued to advance and engaged Archers, Billmen and dismounted knights finally fighting all the way to Oxford himself where he was heroically dragged from his mount and killed.
This put pressure on the Tudor centre which was taking casualties. Shrewsbury tried to turn his troops to support his army’s centre but too late.
Henry was hunted down and killed.
VICTORY TO RICHARD III.
Summary.
Everybody including gamers and viewers seemed to enjoy the game and the rules sparked a bit of interest. With a 1000+ troops on the table it played really well. We did change a few aspects of the rules afterwards and I will publish an updated version later this week.
I apologise for the quality of some of the shots but for some reason the normally reliable camera seemed to be playing up on the day. WSS and Wargame Illustrated were both at the show so hopefully they may publish some better shots of the game.
Below are some shots of the figures involved:

Northumberland’s troops close down on Henry in a similar way to Richard was hunted down in real life!

Oxford supporting his archers who have been contacted by Surrey’s Men at Arms. The Tudor left flank after a strong start, starts to break up. This is a desperate last chance.